Android Tablets™ For Dummies®

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Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013933954

ISBN 978-1-118-54319-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-54325-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-67132-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-67133-7 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Author

Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for over 25 years. He combines his love of writing with his gizmo fascination to create books that are informative, entertaining, and not boring. Having written more than 130 titles with millions of copies in print translated into over 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes seems to work.

Perhaps his most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times #1 bestseller (though as a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT bestseller list). From that book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.

Dan's most popular titles include Android Phones For Dummies, Word For Dummies, and Laptops For Dummies. He also maintains the vast and helpful website, www.wambooli.com.

Dan holds a degree in Communications/Visual Arts from the University of California, San Diego. Presently, he lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he serves as Councilman for the City of Coeur d’Alene. Dan enjoys spending time with his sons playing video games inside while they watch the gentle woods of Idaho.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

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Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

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Cover Photo: © iStockphoto.com / Cary Westfall

Composition Services

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Proofreaders: Lindsay Amones, Shannon Ramsey

Indexer: Christine Karpeles

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

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Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Android Tablets For Dummies®

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheat/androidtablets to view this book's cheat sheet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

How to Use This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: Getting Started with Android Tablets

Part II: Stay in Touch

Part III: Omni Tablet

Part IV: Nuts and Bolts

Part V: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : Getting Started with Android Tablets

Chapter 1: That Out-of-the-Box Experience

Initial Procedures

Liberating the tablet from the box

Charging the battery

Tablet Exploration

Finding things on the tablet

Inserting and removing the microSD card

Getting optional accessories

Where to Keep Your Tablet

Making a home for the tablet

Taking the Android tablet with you

Chapter 2: Android Tablet On and Off

Initial Tablet Nonsense

Activating your Android tablet

Setting up a Google account

Linking your Google account

Adding more accounts

Regular, Everyday Tablet Nonsense

Turning on your Android tablet

Unlocking the tablet

Working the secure lock screens

The End of Your Android Tablet Day

Locking the tablet

Setting the lock timeout

Turning off your Android tablet

Chapter 3: How the Tablet Works

Basic Operations

Touching the touchscreen

Changing the orientation

Setting the volume

There’s No Place Like Home Screen

Touring the Home screen

Accessing multiple Home screens

Icons, Icons, Icons

Home Screen Chores

Starting an app

Accessing a widget

Reviewing recent apps

Checking notifications

Making Quick Settings

The Apps Screen

Chapter 4: Creating and Editing Text

Everybody Was Touchscreen Typing

Using the onscreen keyboard

Selecting another onscreen keyboard

Hunt and Peck and Swipe

Typing duties

Swiping duties

Accessing special symbols

Text Editing

Moving the cursor

Selecting text

Selecting text on a web page

Cutting, copying, and pasting

Android Tablet Dictation

Activating voice input

Speaking instead of typing

Uttering s**** words

Commanding the tablet with your voice

Part II: Stay in Touch

Chapter 5: All Your Friends

The Tablet’s Address Book

Using the address book

Sorting your contacts

Searching contacts

Even More Friends

Building a contact from scratch

Creating a contact from an e-mail message

Importing contacts from your computer

Finding a new contact on the map

Manage Your Friends

Editing contact information

Taking a picture of a contact

Making a favorite

Joining identical contacts

Removing a contact

Chapter 6: You’ve Got E-Mail

Android Tablet E-Mail

Setting up an Email account

Adding even more e-mail accounts

Message for You!

Getting a new message

Checking the inbox

Reading an e-mail message

Replying to or forwarding a message

Write a New E-Mail Message

Starting a message from scratch

Sending e-mail to a contact

Saving a draft

Message Attachments

Dealing with attachments

Sending an attachment

E-Mail Configuration

Creating a signature

Configuring the manual delete option

Setting the primary e-mail account

Chapter 7: Tablet Web Browsing

The Web on Your Tablet

Getting a better web browser

Viewing the web

Visiting a web page

Browsing back and forth

Working with bookmarks

Managing web pages in multiple tabs

Searching the web

Searching for something on a web page

Sharing a page

Saving a web page

The Art of Downloading

Grabbing an image from a web page

Downloading a file

Reviewing your downloads

Web Browser Controls and Settings

Setting a home page

Changing the way the web looks

Setting privacy and security options

Chapter 8: Digital Social Life

Your Life on Facebook

Setting up your Facebook account

Getting the Facebook app

Running Facebook on your tablet

Setting your status

Uploading a picture to Facebook

Configuring the Facebook app

The Tweet Life

Setting up Twitter

Tweeting

Even More Social Networking

Chapter 9: Like a Phone Does

Can We Google Talk?

Using Google Talk

Setting your status and message

Getting friends on Google Talk

Typing at your friends

Talking and video chat

Connect to the World with Skype

Obtaining a Skype account

Getting Skype for your tablet

Using Skype

Building your Skype Contacts list

Chatting with another Skype user

Sending a text message with Skype

Speaking on Skype (voice chat)

Seeing on Skype (video call)

Placing a Skype phone call

Part III: Omni Tablet

Chapter 10: There’s a Map for That

A Map That Needs No Folding

Using the Maps app

Adding layers

It Knows Where You Are

Finding out where you are

Helping others find your location

Taking the map offline

Find Things

Looking for a specific address

Finding a business, restaurant, or point of interest

Making a favorite place

Locating a contact

Android the Navigator

Getting directions

Navigating to your destination

Adding a navigation widget to the Home screen

Chapter 11: Everyone Say, “Cheese!”

Android Tablet Camera 101

Snapping a pic

Deleting an image immediately after you take it

Setting the flash

Doing a self-portrait

Changing the resolution

Taking a panoramic shot

Setting the image’s location

Adjusting the camera

Live, It’s Tablet Video!

Recording video

Setting video quality

Shedding some light on your subject

Shooting yourself

Chapter 12: Digital Photo Album

Where Your Pictures Lurk

Visiting the Gallery

Finding out where you took a picture

Assigning an image to a contact

Setting an image as wallpaper

Edit and Manage the Gallery

Cropping an image

Rotating pictures

Deleting images and videos

Selecting multiple pictures and videos

Set Your Pictures Free

Using your Picasa account

Printing pictures

Posting your video to YouTube

Sharing with the Share menu

Chapter 13: Music, Music, Music

Listen Here

Browsing your music library

Playing a tune

Being the life of the party

Add Some Music to Your Life

Borrowing music from a computer

Buying music at the Google Play Store

Using the Internet to access your tunes

Organize Your Music

Reviewing your playlists

Creating your own playlists

Making music available full-time

Removing unwanted music

Music from the Stream

Chapter 14: Other Amazing Feats

It’s a Clock

It’s a Large Calculator

It’s a Calendar

Browsing your schedule

Reviewing appointments

Creating an event

It’s an E-Book Reader

Using the Play Books app

Reading a Play Books e-book

Getting more Google Play books

Using the Amazon Kindle app

It’s a Game Machine

It’s Your Video Entertainment

Enjoying YouTube

Buying and renting movies

Chapter 15: More Apps

Hello, Google Play Store

Browsing the Google Play Store

Obtaining an app

Installing apps from a computer

App Management

Reviewing your apps

Sharing an app

Updating an app

Removing downloaded apps

Part IV: Nuts and Bolts

Chapter 16: It’s a Wireless Life

The Wonderful World of Wireless

Using the cellular data network

Understanding Wi-Fi

Activating and deactivating Wi-Fi

Connecting to a Wi-Fi network

Share the Cellular Connection

Creating a mobile hotspot

Sharing the Internet via tethering

The Bluetooth World

Activating Bluetooth

Pairing with a Bluetooth peripheral

Printing to a Bluetooth printer

Android, Beam It to Me

Chapter 17: Connect, Share, and Store

The USB Connection

Connecting the tablet to a computer

Dealing with the USB connection on a PC

Connecting an Android tablet to a Mac

Configuring the USB connection

Disconnecting the tablet from a computer

Files Back and Forth

Transferring files between a computer and an Android tablet

Using Bluetooth to copy a file

Android Tablet Storage

Reviewing storage stats

Managing files

The HDMI Connection

Chapter 18: On the Road

You Can Take It with You

Preparing to leave

Going to the airport

Flying with an Android tablet

Getting to where you are

The Android Tablet Goes Abroad

Traveling overseas with an Android tablet

Disabling data roaming

Chapter 19: Customize Your Android Tablet

Home Screen Decorating

Hanging new wallpaper

Adding apps to the Home screen

Putting an app on the Favorites bar

Slapping down widgets

Moving and removing icons and widgets

Managing Home screen pages

Android Tablet Security

Finding the locks

Removing the screen lock

Unlocking the tablet with your face

Creating an unlock pattern

Setting a PIN

Assigning a password

Setting the owner info text

Various Adjustments

Singing a different tune

Changing display settings

Chapter 20: Maintenance and Troubleshooting

The Maintenance Chore

Keeping it clean

Backing up your stuff

Updating the system

Battery Care and Feeding

Monitoring the battery

Determining what is sucking up power

Extending battery life

Help and Troubleshooting

Fixing random and annoying problems

Getting support

Valuable Android Tablet Q&A

I can’t turn the tablet on (or off)!

The touchscreen doesn’t work!

The battery doesn’t charge!

The tablet gets so hot that it turns itself off!

My tablet doesn’t do landscape mode!

Part V : The Part of Tens

Chapter 21: Ten Tips, Tricks, and Shortcuts

Summon a Recent App

Disable Fast Mobile Data

Create a Contact Widget

Keep the Tablet Awake

Add Settings Widgets

Add Spice to Dictation

Enter Location Information for Events

Visit the Task Manager

Find Your Lost Tablet

Add Another User

Chapter 22: Ten Things to Remember

Use Dictation

Change Orientation

Orientation Lock

Use the Keyboard Suggestions

Things That Consume Lots of Battery Juice

Use a Docking Stand

Make Phone Calls

Mind Your Schedule

Snap a Pic of That Contact

Use Google Search

Chapter 23: Ten Great Free Apps

AK Notepad

ASTRO File Manager

Dropbox

Google Finance

Google Sky Map

Movies

SportsTap

TuneIn Radio

Voice Recorder

Zedge

Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Somewhere filling the void between the smartphone and the computer lies the premiere device of the 21st century. It’s probably something you’ve never used before but will soon be unable to live without. It’s the tablet, specifically an Android tablet.

The Android tablet is a gizmo that could fully replace your computer, as well as several other pieces of electronics you may tote around. It’s an all-in-one, lightweight, battery-powered, long-lasting, fully mobile, telecommunications, information, and entertainment gizmo.

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!